Josh Brolin and Diane Lane: Their Rocky Romance Timeline

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The JuiceFebruary 22, 2013

When Josh Brolin and Diane Lane announced their divorce on Thursday, the news wasn’t as jaw-dropping as some celebrity breakup announcements tend to be.

Just four months after the couple tied the knot, they were involved in a domestic dispute that made headlines, and, at 45, Brolin has maintained his bad boy image – between his various arrests and his own candid admissions, like his recent Men’s Journal interview talking about his heroin use as a teen.

However, for over a decade the movie star couple – who were both previously married – made a pretty pair on the red carpet and they’ve sung one another’s praises in interviews. In fact, as news broke that they are divorcing, an insider told Us Weekly, “It is very amicable. It's not ugly, it's just over.”

Let’s look back at some of the highs and lows of their romance…

2002: While Brolin and Lane, 48, crossed paths over the years – they both began their careers as teens – they didn’t officially start dating until 2002 soon after they became reacquainted at a premiere party for “A Beautiful Mind.” “Strangely enough, we [first] met when … he made a film (“The Road Killers”) with my then-husband,” Lane toldPeople magazine. “It was like ‘Hello’ at the craft-service table. Flash forward nine years and we met at this restaurant after a premiere. He was like, ‘Hi. Remember me?’”

July 4, 2003: Four years after calling off an engagement to Minnie Driver, Brolin put a ring on Lane’s finger on Independence Day. The couple, who had been dating for a year and a half, announced that they were betrothed. “It's right, really right," Brolin gushed to People.

August 15, 2004: The couple tied the knot at Brolin's 97-acre ranch north of Los Angeles. The ceremony was casual – they exchanged vows on a hilltop in front of about 70 loved ones. Guests including the groom’s father and stepmother, James Brolin and Barbra Streisand, and actress Elizabeth Perkins, who was Lane’s maid of honor, were told to bring their dogs, which roamed all over the property. Brolin and Lane included their children – her daughter, Eleanor, and his kids, Trevor and Eden – in the service.

December 19, 2004: Brolin was arrested in the couple’s West Los Angeles home and charged with spousal battery. An LAPD spokesperson said that Lane called police and claimed that Brolin hit her. A spokesperson for the couple told the New York Daily News, “There was a misunderstanding at their home. ... [The arrest was] for the lowest-end misdemeanor charge of domestic battery. ... Diane did not want to press charges and asked them not to arrest him, but in cases involving the possibility of any physical contact, the police have to arrest first, ask questions later.” The rep added that after Brolin was bailed out, he returned home and the couple was "embarrassed the matter went this far."

July 12, 2008: In Shreveport, Louisiana, shooting Oliver Stone's President George W. Bush film, “W.,” Brolin, his co-star Jeffrey Wright, and five others were arrested during an early morning bar fight.

July 20, 2008: While outside a Santa Monica, California, bar, Brolin was caught on camera by TMZ having a hands-on conversation with Robin Wright. That was followed by the actor getting “pushy-shovey” with Wright’s then-husband Sean Penn. The website described Brolin as “wobbly and profanity-screaming.”

September 17, 2008: Brolin downplayed his Shreveport arrest in an interview with W magazine. "Let me put it this way," he said. "It was nice to be in jail knowing that I hadn't done anything wrong. And it was maddening to be in jail knowing that I hadn't done anything wrong."

November 2008: Lane opened up about the difficulties of blending families, saying she and her husband had very different parenting methods. “Josh, as I said, has a different style,” she toldRedbook. “Sometimes I'm grateful when he's strict with my daughter. Sometimes I'm like, ‘Ooh. Wow. I bet she's gonna come talk to me later and be like...’ [her lower lip quivers].”

January 6, 2009: The charges against Brolin in the Shreveport fight were dropped.

September 2010: Brolin’s interview with Playboy hits newsstands in which he discusses his 2004 domestic violence arrest. "I feel rage about that," he told the magazine. "I feel I've gotten to a point where I can't explain it, defend it or compensate for it. I can't say, 'No, I'm actually a really good guy and that didn't happen.' Everybody knows what happened because it's all out there. I talked big, she said 'F**k you' and called the cops, and somebody had to go to jail. This will be there for the rest of my life. That f***ing sucks. It's been so disruptive to our lives. It's also post-O.J., and that horrifies us both. It kills me, man. It kills me." In the same interview, he said he’s never been unfaithful to the actress. "I don't f**k around on my wife,” he said. "I mean, check her out, man. My relationship with my wife is fantastic."

October 2010: Lane opened up about marriage in an interview with Ladies Home Journal. "At my own peril I will quote Mae West, who said, 'Getting married is like trading in the adoration of many for the sarcasm of one,'" she laughed. "I embrace that. Bring it on. Because that's what intimacy is: It's a willingness to be vulnerable, a willingness to bite my tongue, and a willingness to set an example of what I believe in. And it's hard." But worth it. "I recently said to Josh, 'Being in a relationship makes it impossible to avoid yourself.' It may not always make me comfortable but it sure has made me a better person. And I'll take that any day."

December 8, 2012: Paparazzi photos of the couple taken outside Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood show Lane walking away from Brolin as he calls after her.

December 11, 2012: Brolin and Lane make their last appearance as a couple on the red carpet, attending the premiere of Streisand’s flick “The Guilt Trip.”

January 1, 2013: Happy New Year? The actor was arrested for public intoxication on New Year's Day in Santa Monica, California. He was issued a citation.

January 9, 2013: Brolin had a casual attitude when asked about his most recent arrest. "New Year's – that's what happened. I'm the one guy who's out there, and they go, 'Hey, there's Josh. Let's grab him,’” he said on “Good Morning America.” “You know, it was New Year's. It was a pretty innocent thing. It was a fun thing.”

January 11, 2013: Brolin’s interview with Men’s Journal hits newsstands – and it’s filled with bad boy tales. In addition to sharing details about losing his virginity at the age of 11, he talked about being part of a surf gang while growing up in Montecito, California, and stealing car radios to buy heroin. Referring to himself as an "intimidator" and a "goon," he revealed he was also arrested at 19 for getting into a fight, then getting physical with the police when they arrived to break it up. “I was pretty drunk,” he told the magazine. “To this day, I have no idea what the fight was about. I woke up in jail. The police were very angry with me. ...I was looking at a long time in prison. So, basically, I put everything I had – everything I had earned from a TV series I did – into lawyers. I did a bit of jail time. Not much, but a little bit."

February 21, 2013: A spokesperson for the couple confirmed their split to omg!. “Diane Lane and Josh Brolin have decided to end their marriage,” said the rep. Us Weekly, who first reported the breakup, reported that an insider close to the couple said there is “no villain” in the divorce and that it was “amicable.”